This marathon runner was just 26 seconds shy of breaking the 2-hour barrier

Olympian Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya came just shy of running a sub-two-hour marathon Saturday, nearly accomplishing one of the most anticipated feats in sports.

Kipchoge completed the 26.2-mile race in just two hours and 25 seconds. His time isn't eligible to set a new world record because he had a pace car, but it shaves more than two minutes off the current world record of 2:02:57 and slightly more off Kipchoge's previous personal best of 2:03:05.

Kipchoge is part of Nike's Breaking2 project, which has developed high-tech shoes and an innovative pacing formation to minimize wind resistance. To successfully break two hours, a runner must maintain a pace of 4:34 per mile, and seemingly minor factors like small variations of temperature or humidity can make — or, in this case, break — a performance.

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"I was aiming for 1:59, but I'm happy to run two hours in [a] marathon," Kipchoge said post-race. "The world is only 25 seconds away." Watch him cross the finish line below. Bonnie Kristian